Who is this Fran?

Fran was born in Downtown Los Angeles, lived her early years in Manila, Philippines, then moved back to Hollywood for a relatively normal childhood. She learned the entire soundtrack of “Jesus Christ Superstar” at the age of six, but it wasn’t until her senior year of high school and a couple years of college, that she went full tilt theater.

Not long after dropping out of college, she decided to return to school, just not as a student. Orientation programs for incoming freshmen became her forté, with Playfair, an interactive ice-breaker and team building comedy show. The requests started pouring in for her to create her own show to address issues of diversity. With her husband and artistic partner, Colin Cox, “Faces of America” premiered at the Los Angeles Theater Center, hailed as a “Best Bet” and took the country by storm. To date, the show has been performed at over 600 colleges, corporate trainings, and community events in 49 states. Of all the stops, Fran is most proud of performances for the United Nations Associations in New York and Los Angeles, and for the good people of Couer d’Alene, Idaho when the Aryan Nations attempted to thwart her appearance with a bomb threat. (Don’t worry, no one was hurt.)

In the Los Angeles theater scene, Fran has performed with the Center Theater Group, South Coast Rep, East West Players, Playwrights’ Arena, Critical Mass Performance Group, and LA Music Center On Tour. Past credits include the critically acclaimed “Dogeaters,” “Ruby, Tragically Rotund,” and “Sea Change.” Festival credits include “The Third From the Left” at the New York Fringe, “The Merchant of Venice” at the UK/LA Festival, and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the 6th World Shakespeare Congress.

Fran has taken the storytelling mic at the Funny Women Festival, Expressing Motherhood, WordNow, Laugh Riot Grrrl, and Back Story.